Roach: Dementia, delirium not same

5:42 PM,
Jun. 16, 2013

Written by

Dr. K. Roach
Syndicated Columnist

Dear Dr. Roach: My father, 79, used to play 18 holes of golf three times a week, but after a recent gallbladder removal, he started showing some unusual symptoms. He appeared to be a totally different person: helpless and unable to walk. The doctors diagnosed him as having dementia.

I kept telling the doctors and nurses that his washroom smelled horrible and that there was a bad odor after he passed urine. Finally, after several weeks of going in and out of the hospital, he's been on antibiotics for five days, and is his same old self again, as mentally agile as before. Please tell caregivers to ...